El Bosque De Cuentos: Historias De Arboles Magicos De Todo El Mundo

by Rina Singh

This unique collection of folktales, compiled by Rina Singh, encourages us to rethink our relationship with trees through the telling of fantastic tales filled with dancing palms, healing fig trees and magical cherry blossoms. Illustrated in radiant hues by artist Helen Cann and containing notes about the individual characteristics of each species, this vibrant collection will encourage all of us, young and old alike, to appreciate the essential place of trees in our lives, and help us to translate our appreciation into the desire to protect our many endangered forests.

Genres: Childrens, Short Stories, Nature, Picture Books, Folklore

Hardcover

First published August 1, 2003

About the author

RINA SINGH was born in India and immigrated to Canada in 1980. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Concordia University and a teaching degree from McGill University. Before moving from Montreal to Toronto, she taught creative writing to gifted children. She has since written several critically acclaimed books for children. Her book A Forest of Stories has been translated into several languages, her poems and short stories have appeared in several Canadian literary journals, and she has exhibited photography in many Toronto galleries. Rina Singh teaches art and drama in Toronto, where she lives with her restaurateur husband and their two children.

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved several of these tales and enjoyed them all to some extent. The included tales are actually retold by the author, and the sources for each tale are in the back of the book.

The contents are:

Introduction
The Cypress Tree: Chinese
The Kapok Tree: Guatemalan
The Chestnut Tree: Japanese
The Cherry Blossom Tree: Indian
The Palm Tree: Nigerian
The Fig Tree: Jewish
The Pomegranate Tree: Moroccan

All the illustrations are gorgeous, from the pictures of various leaves on the inside cover pages, and four trees (in spring, summer, autumn, and winter) on the title page, to how some of the border illustrations seep onto the rest of the page, to how the style of art changes slightly to depict the various cultures in each story.

Before each tale, there is an illustrated page with a bit of factual information about each of the kinds of trees featured.

Another winner from Barefoot Books.

This would make a lovely gift book.

[Emelda · Rating 2 out of 5]

What could be better than a book of tree stories? Well, a lot, apparently. I had high hopes for this collection. When women are mentioned, they are married off like good girls. Unfortunately, the two stories I liked (The Cherry Blossom Tree and the Pomegranate Tree) were "inspired" by the tales from the region they were based on (India and Morocco, respectively) and I can't get them apart from the others. The other 5 ranged from OK to boring. Perhaps kids in the age range they're aimed at aren't as picky as me. :)

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a magical book for children as well as adults it is on my shelf and I will use this book in the classroom

[Ella Dovey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully illustrated book of a compilation of traditional stories/ fables from around the world about trees. The beginning of each chapter, or story, starts with a page with non-fictional information about the tree, what its leaves look like, the colour of its bark, where it is native to and what it is traditionally used for in its native land. It is an excellent resource for science therefore when learning to name and identify a variety of common trees in Year 1 (NC). In terms of working scientifically, and developing an understanding of how scientific inquiry works, at KS2 this might be a wonderful way to contrast and compare world views and traditional beliefs about nature as compared to a modern scientific view. It then goes on to the fable, each of which is centred around the tree and has a moral lesson that can be discussed with the children (this book could be quite a nice PSHE cross curricular link, particularly when doing the section on plants in science, for example). It is also a really nice book for western children as it includes fables they are very unlikely to have heard before, as they are from China, Japan, Guatemala, India, Nigeria, and Morocco. For this reason it would also be a good "hook" in geography, science or history lessons, to set the scene of place and space, what life used to be like and how humans rely on and are a part of nature. It also includes a Jewish fable which could be used in RE when learning about Judaism. The story from India references Buddha, and so could also be used in RE.

[Terry]

Reluctant/Struggling Teen Reader: This is a good book for anyone. This was cool. I liked the pictures and how the stories were different. I picked this book because I could read it to my cousin, and I would read it again. Read on to see the rest of the review.

[Silvio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely book! Trees, cultures, stories - I love it.

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

The trees hold the wisdom and they are willing to share it with worthy humans.
Includes stories about the Cypress tree, Kapok tree, Chestnut tree, Cherry blossom tree, Palm tree, Fig tree, and Pomegranate tree.

[Marmot · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept, but the stories were all too similar for my liking. I would have preferred it if at least one of the stories came from North America, so my kids could relate to which tree it was.

[Liaken · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories about trees is definitely worth the look.

[Jennifer W · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to read these stories to kids when I worked in outdoor ed. They're great fables, and because they come from different parts of the world, they're stories most kids haven't heard before.

[Haze · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and interesting stories, but not usable for my purpose.